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Robert Tannahill (3 June 1774 – 17 May 1810) was a
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
of labouring class origin. Known as the 'Weaver Poet', he wrote poetry in English and lyrics in Scots in the wake of
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...
.


Life

Tannahill was born in Castle Street in Paisley to Janet (née Pollock) and James Tannahill, a silk gauze weaver. Soon after his birth the family moved to a newly built cottage in nearby Queen Street, which became both family home and weaving shop. Tannahill had a delicate constitution and a limp, due to a slight deformity in his right leg. On leaving school at age 12, he was apprenticed to his father as a handloom weaver. It was during this time that he began to show an interest in poetry. With his apprenticeship completed, Tannahill left Paisley in late 1779 to work in
Bolton, Lancashire Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and villages that form the wider ...
. He returned in late 1801 to support his family. His father died soon after his return and he cared for his infirm mother. As he reported in a letter to a friend, "My brother Hugh and I are all that remain at home, with our old mother, bending under age and frailty; and but seven years back, nine of us used to sit down at dinner together." Then Hugh married and Robert was left the sole support, making a resolution which he records in a touching but substandard poem in English, "The Filial Vow". As things fell out, however, his mother was to outlive him by thirteen years. In the years which followed, his interest in poetry and music blossomed after he became acquainted with the composer
Robert Archibald Smith Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829) was a Scottish musical Romantic composer, known for his collection ''Scotish Minstrel'', which began to appear in 1821. Life He was born on 16 November 1780.Monuments and monumental inscriptions in Scotlan ...
, who set some of his songs in the Scots language to music. While taking part in the literary life of the town, he helped found the Paisley Burns Club and became its secretary. His work now began to appear in periodicals such as ''
The Scots Magazine ''The Scots Magazine'' is a magazine containing articles on subjects of Scottish interest. It claims to be the oldest magazine in the world still in publication, although there have been several gaps in its publication history. It has reported on ...
'' and in 1807 he published a small collection of poems and songs in an edition of 900 copies which sold out in a few weeks. Out on a walk some time later, he heard a girl in a field singing his "We'll meet beside the dusky glen on yon burnside" and was greatly encouraged. But in 1810, following the rejection of an augmented collection of his work by publishers in
Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...
and Edinburgh, he fell into a despondency aggravated by fears for his own health. Eventually he burned all his manuscripts and apparently drowned himself in a culverted stream under the Paisley Canal, where he was found because he had left his jacket and watch at the mouth of the tunnel. However, in 2024 research conducted by Paisley Museum and Dr Moira Hansen from the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
cast doubt on the belief that he deliberately took his own life. According to the researchers, Tannahill was suffering from tuberculosis and was experiencing "episodes of incoherent delirium". He entered the stream in a confused state, in an attempt to cool himself in the water. This explains why he took the time to remove his coat and watch, and why he hadn’t headed for the deeper waters nearby. The researchers concluded that his death was accidental rather than suicide.


Poetry

Most of Tannahill's poetry dates from his return home in 1802, when he composed as he worked at the loom, ‘weaving threads and verses alternately’. His interest in poetry was of long standing and his reading was almost solely confined to it. Using both Scots and English, he experimented with many forms: tales, fables, epitaphs, verse epistles, odes, besides the body of dialect song on which his reputation mainly rests. Among the odes are three written for the Burns anniversary, of which the first is a bravura performance. Here the tartan-clad Genius of Scotland enters the assembly of the gods on Olympus and begs for a national bard, which is immediately granted with the birth of Burns. Poverty is a frequent theme in his work, including that brought about by the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
for returning soldiers and sailors or their widows. The 1807 collection had been titled ''The soldier's return, a Scottish interlude in two acts, with other poems and songs''. The title piece was a dramatic fragment in dialect couplets, serving as frame for accompanying lyrics, of which Tannahill (but few others) thought highly. The book had been published by subscription, as was common at the time, but the poet later objected to this as demeaning. It was for this reason that he made unsuccessful attempts to get his work accepted commercially. But it was not long after his death that such editions began to come from the press: in 1815 and 1817, with a reprint of the original collection in 1822. In addition, there was a large selection in Motherwell's ''Harp of Renfrewshire'', dating from 1819 and several times reprinted. Later collections of Tannahill's work, augmented by copies of poems preserved by his friends and associates, followed soon after.


Music

As well as R.A.Smith's settings, other songs were set by John Ross, the Aberdeen organist. More had been written by Tannahill to accompany traditional Scottish airs, and some from Ireland too. Several have now entered the oral tradition. Perhaps the most enduring is "The Braes of Balquhidder" – the basis for the ballad "
Wild Mountain Thyme "Wild Mountain Thyme" (also known as "Purple Heather" and "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?") is a Scottish/Irish folk song. The lyrics and melody are a variant of the song "The Braes of Balquhither" by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810) and ...
", which has the chorus "Will Ye Go Lassie, Go?" In it he refers to a story from his nursemaid, Mary McIntyre of Balquhither parish, that she and her mother had baked
bannock Bannock may mean: * Bannock (British and Irish food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle served mainly in Scotland but consumed throughout the British Isles * Bannock (Indigenous American food), various types of bread, usually prepare ...
for the army of
Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...
, marching to Culloden. Tannahill also wrote "Thou Bonnie Wood of Craigielea", the tune of which was later modified to form the music for the famous Australian bush folk song "
Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing ...
". Finally, Tannahill wrote "The Soldier's Adieu", which became the basis for the folk song " Farewell to Nova Scotia". In 2006 Brechin All Records released Volume 1 of ''The Complete Songs of Robert Tannahill''. Volume 2 was released in 2010 to coincide with the second centenary of his death.


Legacy

As a suicide, Tannahill was buried in an unmarked grave in the burying ground adjacent to the West Relief Church (now Castlehead Cemetery) on Canal Street in Paisley. In 1866 a granite monument was erected there by public subscription, marking the growing recognition of the poet's importance. The centenary of his birth was marked in 1874 by an edition of his ''Poems and Songs'' and by a procession to the Gleniffer Braes, one of the most frequently mentioned landscapes in his work, attended by 15,000 people. A series of annual concerts at which his songs were performed were held on the Braes between 1876 - 1936. The penny admission charge went towards paying for
David Watson Stevenson David Watson Stephenson (25 March 1842 – 18 March 1904) was a Scottish sculptor, executing portraits and monuments in marble and bronze. Biography Stevenson was born in Ratho, Midlothian, Scotland, on 25 March 1842, the son of William Stev ...
's statue of Tannahill that was erected in the grounds of
Paisley Abbey Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland on the east bank of the River Cart, White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about west of Glasgow, in Scotland. Its origins date from the 12th century, base ...
in 1883. A memorial well was also built in the glen, although now it is much neglected. Likenesses of the poet all seem to have stemmed from a pencil sketch made the day after his death by local artist John Morton. The first copperplate engraving of this appeared as the frontispiece of ''The Harp of Renfrewshire'' in 1819 and later accompanied editions of the poems in 1822, 1825, 1838, and 1846. Later came bust-size portraits in oil, of which one was made in 1833 by William Beith, a Paisley flower painter. Another by Thomas Carswell, a Greenock artist, was made for Mr. Marshall of Ladyburn, who had been at school with Tannahill. This was partly done from the engraved portrait in the ''Harp of Renfrewshire'' and checked against Marshall's remembrance of his old school-fellow. Still another by Alexander Blair was engraved by Samuel Freeman for the ''Biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen'' (see above). A bust of the poet was sculpted by John Fillans in 1845, again using Morton's drawing as a basis, and this was presented to Paisley Museum in 1873. Elsewhere, a bust of the poet was included in the
Wallace Monument The National Wallace Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a tower on the shoulder of the Abbey Craig, a hilltop overlooking Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, a 13th- and 14th-century Scottish hero. ...
’s Hall of Heroes in 1869. And in 1889 his portrait appeared among others in the stained glass windows at Lamlash House commissioned from Stephen Adam. Tannahill is one of the sixteen writers and poets depicted on the lower sections of the
Scott Monument The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the second-largest monument to a writer in the world after the José Martí monument in Havana. It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opp ...
on
Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...
in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. He appears on the right side of the southern face. After a period of intermission, the Burns Club he helped found now meets during the winter months in the old Tannahill cottage. The Scottish folk music group the Tannahill Weavers, active since 1976, are named after Robert Tannahill, and have recorded several of his songs.


See also

*
Scottish literature Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes works in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin, Norn or other languages written within the modern boundaries of Scotland. The e ...
* "Famous Scots Series". A biography of Tannahill appears in the book, ''James Hogg'' by Sir George Douglas.


Further reading

* * Thomas Wilson Bayne, “Robert Tannahill”,
Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
* * * *''The Harp of Renfrewshire'' (1872), ed. William Motherwell
p.37ff


References


External links

* *
Tannahill's Well, Glen Park.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tannahill, Robert 1774 births 1810 deaths Poets from Paisley, Renfrewshire 1810s suicides Suicides by drowning in the United Kingdom